Asclepius, Modern Medicine and Health Reform

JF Ptak Science Books LLC Pos 698 Blog Bookstore

Our exhausted elected servants have
retired to their native haunts, spent perhaps by their efforts to noodle
through a desperate plan to reform our national health care mess. It may be
that they’ve retired to make good on their wakening efforts on health care, and
go full throttle into sleep-and-dream efforts.They might be able to find something there. At least for some of them
there may be not a great difference between their awake and their asleep
reasonings, so few will get injured.

This is not without precedent; and as
a matter of fact dream mental and physical therapy is far older than any sort of
medicine that we recognize as “moderns”.The dream temple was in extensive use in Egypt some 4000 years ago; people
attended the temple and through various means entered a trance state, after
which their visions/dreams were analyzed for medical benefit.It was in many respects a hospital of dreams,
with treatments ranging through the expansive gamut of sacrifices to the appropriate
deities, sweating, fasting, bathing, meditation, sleep, and of course, more
sleep.

But the one degree of separation business
connecting health care reform with sleep-thinking is Asclepius, on whose pillow
the legislators can feel safe and comfortable.In ancient Greece

The connection between modern
medicine and sleep and dreams is the staff of Asclepius—a snake-entwined staff,
which is the very symbol of modern medicine.In ancient Greece,
people in need would go to their Asclepieion and take their treatment, again
consisting of fasting, prayers, meditation and sleep.

The connection between modern
medicine and sleep and dreams is the staff of Asclepius—a snake-entwined staff,
which is the very symbol of modern medicine.In ancient Greece
the first step in attending the benefits of an Asclepieion was to sleep in its
outer courtyard, waiting for a vision of the great Asclepius, who would be recognized
by this very staff. Once the pilgrim
achieved this first level of dream/sleep/vision they could proceed to the
interior of the temple and seek their treatment.Perhaps now that the Congress is on vacation
they might be more attuned to the possibility of entertaining a helpful sleepytime
vision from the iconic benefactor of modern medicine, and proceed accordingly.